


Suit of Hearts

by CrystallicSky



Series: Oneshots [11]
Category: Xiaolin Showdown (Cartoon)
Genre: Card Meanings, Love Letters, M/M, Not So Secret Admirer, Puzzles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-08-27
Updated: 2008-08-27
Packaged: 2017-11-12 18:41:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/494419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrystallicSky/pseuds/CrystallicSky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Unexpected gifts lead to unexpected conclusions, especially when one is dealing with a tricky secret admirer...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Suit of Hearts

Chase had been quietly surprised one day to find a neat stack of playing cards on his porch, tied with a black ribbon and not so much as a note to go with it.

He had been even _further_ puzzled, of course, when he could not even find the scent of whomever had left it, the small deck purposefully saturated in some sort of cinnamon-vanilla concoction. The fragments of sentences written in red ink on the white spaces of the cards that made no sense whatsoever weren't exactly helpful at cluing him in to the meaning or the sender of such a strange gift, either.

Entering his den, he took a seat in a plush armchair beside a roaring fireplace, deck in his hand as he did no more than stare at it. It was a conundrum, and it annoyed him, because he was never one for being ignorant of anything.

What was it supposed to mean? It wasn't even a full deck, only nine cards! What reason would someone have to—

The warlord stopped his thought-process abruptly.

Sometimes...sometimes playing cards were used to stand for certain things and ideas, and could be interpreted as such. Perhaps those things and ideas were meant to fill in the blanks between the words!

With this new revelation, he undid the black ribbon on his unexpected gift, using his strong memory to recall all he knew about card-interpreting.

The first in the deck was the king of spades, the word, 'Dear' written at the top.

From what he remembered, the king of spades represented an authoritarian male, cold, logical, and ruthless: obviously meant to refer to himself.

He took this card and relocated it to the back of the deck, inspecting the next one— an eight of hearts and the words, 'this is a.' The eight of hearts, if memory served, meant a love-letter.

On to the next. 'For awhile, I thought you were into' on the queen of spades.

The queen of spades meant a calculating woman, disciplined and power-hungry, referencing Wuya, without doubt.

Next was the seven of hearts inscribed with, 'I thought I was just.' This card represented daydreaming and having unrealistic expectations.

Another seven, this time of diamonds with only the word, 'but.' This one's meaning was of persistent effort paying off.

Now the nine of clubs and 'You were.' The nine of clubs meant stubbornness. Chase scoffed derisively; he was being called stubborn!

An ace of spades was next in line, the deck drawing thin with new cards now. This one had the words, 'but it looks like I've' and the warlord recalled that this represented gaining knowledge or something being revealed.

The second to last card, now, a two of hearts, which meant romance in the air. At the top were the words, 'So, I guess there's' and at the bottom, 'after all, eh, Chase?'

The final card was the jack of diamonds with the closing, 'Love' at the top. Now, the jack of diamonds could refer to either a male _or_ a female who was possessed of ambition but without focus, a lively youth.

He was fairly sure he knew one of these.

Chase Young then replayed the message in his head, getting the full picture: _"Dear Chase, this is a love-letter. For awhile, I thought you were into Wuya. I thought I was just daydreaming and being unrealistic, but persistent effort pays off. You were stubborn, but it looks like I've revealed the truth. So, I guess there's romance in the air after all, eh, Chase? Love, Jack."_

The warlord suddenly gasped at the realization of everything put together before cursing loudly, tossing the deck to the fire.

That tricky little bastard! He _knew_ the man couldn't resist such a riddle and so got his message through with deception, but really, that wasn't what he was worried about.

Damn, Chase thought to himself, fingers clenching on the arms of the chair in frustration, Spicer had figured him out...


End file.
